Mobile devices such as cellular phones typically rely upon a rechargeable battery as a power source. A reduction in power consumption by components of the mobile device may provide a longer operating capacity for the mobile device. Similarly, all components and devices which rely upon a fixed amount of power may benefit from a reduction in power consumption.
Phase-locked loops are employed in a variety of applications, such as mobile devices, for frequency control. Phase-locked loops may be utilized as frequency synthesizers where it is necessary to generate a precise signal with low spurs and noise. Referring to FIG. 1, a phase-locked loop 100 known to the art typically includes a number of components such as a reference frequency input 110, phase detector 120, a voltage controlled oscillator 130 and a frequency divider 140. A drawback associated with a conventional phase-locked loop 100 is the power requirement necessary to support the operation of the phase-locked loop 100. For example, the frequency divider 140 is a substantial contributor to the overall power consumption of the phase-locked loop, especially dividers of greater than a factor of 10, for example.
Consequently, a phase-locked loop that eliminates or reduces the frequency divider functionality would be advantageous to provide frequency control for various applications while reducing the amount of power required for operation of the phase-locked loop.